Chapter Text
W H A T F E E L S N E W ?
ONE —
There are eyes on him.
Vil does not ask what were staring, what they are: he had seen the wisps that drift past windows, heard the low wails coming from the floorboards, felt a brush tad too soft landing on his skin at odd hours.
How many are there? What weight does each gaze carry as they follow his movements? Where do they choose to slip away when he draws too close? Why does the air hiss and the wood groan whenever he goes further into the dorm, through the areas where the dust is at its thickest? These are the right questions but he is wise enough not to voice them out - not outside by the garden, inside the dorm and along the drafty corridors, nor within the four walls of his room.
There are things better left unsaid - especially in a house full of ghosts.
TWO —
Conjuring barriers requires focus and concentration, the textbook says. Well. There’s a lot more it explains than just that, but Kalim figures that it’s all he needs for now. He gets up on his feet and faces the trees, stretches his limbs, brings out his magical pen.
It’s quiet, Kalim blinks. There’s him and nothing else around but green.
On the ground and near his feet, the pages of his textbook are played around by passing winds. They dance back and forth with no one around to hold them together, no one around to slip in a bookmark in whatever portion he was reading, no one to snap them shut.
Remember, Kalim, you were at -
“Page 642, Basic Foundation of Elemental Barriers,” Kalim recites to a wide forest, and to an even wider sky.
The leaves of the trees simply rustle in reply.
THREE —
Usually it starts with his phone ringing out a blaring tune, then there's few raps on the door. A hand shuffling around the sheets, the slight creak of wood. A tap on a screen, a voice somewhere by the foot of the bed.
“Good morning, father.”
Lilia raises his head from a burrow of pillows. “Yes, yes… Good morning, Sil- ”
“Good morning, Lilia-sama!”
Usually.
Ah, right. Lilia winces, Silver’s shoulders jump a bit. The spacious hallways of the Diasomnia dorm proved to be quite the amplifier for that voice.
“Good morning, Lilia-sama!” Sebek repeats as he emerges from the doorway, fully dressed and beaming. “I see you’re awake, did you rest we- ”
“Sebek, tone down. Father just woke up.”
Lilia yawns as the smile falls off from Sebek’s face.
“Silver - what are you doing here!? It’s your duty to wake Waka-sama today, and you were supposed to do that seven minutes ago!”
Seven minutes ago, Lilia runs the time into his head. Oh, so it was already six in the morning? How early!
“I did just that, and he requested I return later as he’d like to finish a book he was reading - ”
“And you chose to leave your post instead of waiting by the door to be called!? What a show of irresponsibility!”
FOUR —
“Mmm? Not gonna handle ‘em today either?”
“The what, exactly? Do close the door, you’re letting the noise in.”
“That. Lounge’s accounting records. Haven’t touched half of it since yesterday, Jade said. What are we, on the red? Losing monthly goals?”
“Don’t make such preposterous assumptions, and stop moving those papers around carelessly - I’ve kept that stack in a proper order!”
“Yeah, yeah - shove your cane off me. And? You make a big racket about this stuff around the end of every month. Gonna rush it this time instead? Feelin’ lazy?”
“Absolutely not. Those records require both thorough assessment and attention, not sloppy handiwork. I assure you, even though those papers are a sizeable amount than usual, I’ll have those papers done in time.”
“Ehh. Why not now? Or later?”
“… Floyd. Return my pen this instant. And again, stop moving that stack!”
“Don’t wanna - you got others in the drawer, anyway.”
“You’re aware of that, and yet you choose to take the one I’m currently… wait. What do you think you’re writing over there!?”
“Sign over here - hmm, Azul’s writing’s narrower, so I gotta…”
“Floyd! Don’t even think about it!”